A $23M plan for ex-Saks location, and how a bad taco led to one of Cincinnati's most popular restaurants

08/14/23 • 44 min

Hosts Andy and Tom talk about a $23 million plan to redevelop downtown's deserted Saks Fifth Avenue shop, the death of a $100 million joint venture with Cincinnati Children's Hospital, a group that wants to become the national standard for DEI and social impact, the relocation of an iconic downtown retailer and why the Bengals provide the NFL's best value.
Interview starts at (22:20). Josh Wamsley could have become a traveling journalist, documenting the stories of people from South Korea to Saudi Arabia, except on a trip home to Cincinnati in between gigs, he had a really bad taco. So he went to Mexico and used his journalism background to immerse himself in the culinary tradition of Oaxaca, taking what he learned and using that to open Mazunte in Madisonville. He's now grown Mazunte to three locations in Cincinnati, and is opening a fourth in Lexington, Ky.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Previous Episode

Music venue planned for West End; CEO talks battle over hybrid work, making the office meaningful

Host Andy Brownfield is joined by special guest host Meg Erpenbeck to talk about a new music venue planned for the West End, the shuttering of a Northern Kentucky institution, a grocery store coming to a neighborhood food desert, a new "city within a city" in downtown Cincinnati and an M. Night Shyamalan movie filming in the Queen City.
Interview starts at (24:20). During the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic, the workplace saw many upheavals, from quiet quitting to the great resignation to the advent, and in some cases, clawing back of remote work as the norm. Gilman Partners CEO Angel Beets talks with us about how employers can best approach that, what job seekers are looking for and why it’s still an employees’ market.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Next Episode

Keeping the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, and the Hard Rock Casino's new president

Hosts Andy and Tom talk about Cincinnati's odds at keeping the Western & Southern Open in the region, Ohio's first Buc-ee's, a startup that promises a personal flying vehicle and what's new at Kings Island for the 2024 season.
Interview starts at (20:09). Justin Wyborn got his start in the hospitality industry, on the opening team of the famed Nobu restaurant as it expanded for the first time outside of New York City. He was even asked twice to appear as a judge on Chef Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen. His career took a shift into the casino business in 2013, when he joined the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Justin updates us on the push to make a name for Cincinnati’s casino as a music venue, and where things stand on a local Hard Rock Hotel.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.